ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

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Let's Create a Sequel!
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~ A Question for the Members: Suppose the area that mutated the ants did a lot more than what it did to the ants.

~ Here's what I came up with.: Imagine a "parallel universe" version of Them!, in which the radiation not only causes the ants in the area to mutate and become gigantic — it also affects other creatures as well!

Suppose the area was suddenly populated by giant lizards, snakes, beetles, scorpions, and other arachnids! The whole region would become a kind of desert "Skull Island", and the military would have their hands full as they battled these monsters!

Wow! What an idea!

______Honey, I Shrunk the Kids - Scorpion vs Ant

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Good Lord, this concept practically writes itself! The first thing that comes to mind is the question of why all these creatures weren't discovered soon after they first went on the rampage?

The answer is simply. The creatures ate all the people who encountered them!

Question two: What would all these animals and insects eat after they grew so large?

That's a no-brainer, too. They would eat the people and the normal animals in the area!

Question three: If there are that many large creatures, wouldn't that require a very large food supply?

Answer: Naturally! So we populate this region with a few farms and ranches, along with all the sheep, horses, cattle, and humans that would be present under those circumstances.

Question four: Would that be enough?

Answer: Maybe not . . . so we put a small, remote desert town right in the middle, like the small towns in It Came from Outer Space and The Monolith Monsters.
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So, foks, that's the situation. Here's how the story starts.

We see a creepy scene at night when a rancher hears tortured sounds from the dark pasture nearby, coming from his cattle. He rushes outside with his lantern and his shotgun, but the sounds suddenly cease. Terrified, he flees back into his house.

The next morning he finds a few scattered remains of his herd, and blood all over the pasture.

His report of the incident to the local sheriff is disbelieved at first, but investigators arrive at the ranch and find no one there, and the house is wrecked. They discover the same situation at a nearby sheep ranch, and when they return to the small town, it's completely deserted! But the fronts of several buildings have been badly damaged, and there are mutilated bodies scattered around!





Suddenly the team of investigators encounter a giant Gila Monster hidden inside one of the buildings, and they flee for their lives.

The military is called in, and the real fun begins! They cordon off the entire area and establish the perimeter of this desert "Skull Island".







I'll let you folks imagine where this idea goes after that, but I think this could have been the greatest 1950s "giant monster movie" ever made!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Morbius]

As I recall from my invertebrate anatomy course, insects derive oxygen through tubes called tracheae. The amount of oxygen supporting metabolism is determined by these tubes. In the days of the dinosaur oxygen content was higher and allowed insects to become bigger since the trachea allowed in the higher oxygen content air and this could support a larger metabolism.

Current oxygen levels limit insect growth. But assuming there is a linear size development and giant insects are able to rummage about killing the local farmers a suggested solution (aside from a pesticide) would be to spray the insects with some type of expanding foam or gooey substance or even paint to clog up the trachea. Rustoleum large insect paint.

Now this might work on the giant insect population, but other critters such as giant lizards etc. would need some other solution. But wouldn’t conventional armaments work, guns, grenades, dynamite?

And if you really want to get technical about it, the introduction of damaging insect or reptilian DNA hosted by virus could be another line to pursue?

[Bud Brewster]

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Damn fine thinking, sir! I

So, in addition to tanks, guns, and flame throwers we'd have soldiers equipped with tanks filled with paint on their backs, and armed with high pressure spray guns!

Since the color of the paint would be irrelevant, the soldiers could used bright orange so that the ants would be more visible from the air, even if they didn't get coated enough to kill them.

Also, the carnivorous beast could be lured into traps by using some of the farm animals (sheep, goats, pigs, etc.) as bait. (War is hell . . . )

Actually, the Army would just hide in concealed positions near farms and cattle herds whenever reconnaissance indicated the approach of large predators.

Wow, this movie would be terrific.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Pow]

Since radiation creates mutations, how about all of these insects and creatures are horribly deformed looking, instead of simply perfect but gigantic versions of themselves?

[Bud Brewster]